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Ch. R. S. Sarma

EXPANSION work at the Visakhapatnam airport is apace, to bring it on a par with international facilities, according to Senior Manager (Air Traffic Control) and Station in-charge, Mr T. Purnachandra Rao.

"A new integrated terminal building will come up at a cost of Rs 95 crore, with all modern facilities. It will have three aero-bridges, three escalators and four elevators, apart from a visitors' gallery, conveyor belts, digital information systems, cyber cafe, conference room, departure and arrival lounges, duty-free outlets, permanent Customs and immigration counters and tourist information counters," Mr Purnachandra Rao told Business Line.

The terminal is expected to be ready for use by the first quarter of 2007. "The 10,000-feet runway would be ready for operation by December 2006, as 50 per cent of the work had been completed," he said.

It would have an instrument landing system (ILS), apart from the normal night landing lighting mechanisms. "The ILS (also called the precision approach path indicator) would help the pilot to identify the runway even during bad weather conditions," he explained.

The approach to the runway would be from the seaside and, therefore, pilots need not go round the hills for landing and takeoff. "It is going to be a direct and straight approach without any sharp turns," he explained.

Aircraft would also be monitored and directed by a very high frequency (VHF) omni-directional Doppler radar installed atop the Dolphin's Nose. "Though the new runway will allow the landing of one aircraft at a time, the apron is being built to accommodate at least six wide-bodied aircraft like Boeing 767s and its equivalent variants at the same time," he said.

On upgrading existing facilities, Mr Purnachandra Rao said that huge canopies on both the airfield and the city side were under construction to give shelter to passengers and visitors. "The departure lounge would be expanded to accommodate more counters for private airlines There is also a proposal to add a few more coffee and tea vending machines both at the security area and at the departure lounge. Talks are on with a few banks to set up ATM counters inside the airport,'' he added.

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